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College/University Counseling Center Trainee
Process Group Immersion
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Racial Consciousness-Focused Consultation Group for White Clinicians
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College/University Counseling Center Trainee
Process Group Immersion
DESCRIPTION
The College/University Trainee – Process Group Immersion (PGI) is a professional development opportunity for trainees who are (co-) facilitating or process-observing interpersonal process-oriented therapy groups during any given training year. Through this program, trainees from select college/university counseling centers on the east coast gain a first-person understanding of process group dynamics prior to the start of their entering the role as group facilitator for the year, through a role as participant in a small process group experience. A brief introduction provides context and orientation to the task of participating in the process group experience, and the bulk of the two days are spent in small process groups. Each group meets for a total of eight sessions.
PGI was developed by Dr. Shemika Brooks with support from an advisory board consisting of professional and training staff at the Johns Hopkins University Counseling Center in 2022. The program was modeled after professional development experiences that often take place at national, international, and local group counseling-specific conferences (e.g. the American Group Psychotherapy Association’s annual two-day “institute”). Such professional development groups (also known as training groups, t-groups, process groups) have been shown to advance the learning and development of group therapists across stages of professional development.
The PGI small groups are facilitated by experienced process group leaders from current and recent college/university contexts. All facilitators must have a demonstrated history of professional development process group facilitation, group program leadership, and/or a Certified Group Psychotherapist (CGP) credential or commensurate experience. PGI group facilitators must also have engaged in professional development specific to justice/equity/ diversity/inclusion. Any members of the PGI facilitation team who are not assigned a small group to (co-)facilitate during PGI are designated to serve as ombudspersons during the two-day program.
Also of note: due to the highly involved and complex dynamics that occur in training groups, the development of the small groups account for the following conditions:
- Trainees are not paired with PGI facilitators from their 2022-23 training sites.
- Whenever possible, trainees are not in the same group as other trainees from their 2022-23 training sites.
- If more trainees are registered from any single site than would allow for this separation, those trainees are separated by training level.
- Upon registering, participants are given the opportunity to identify additional role or relationship conflicts (e.g., with other potential participants and/or with PGI facilitators) that would interfere in any way with the PGI experience if placed in the same process group together.
Any conflicts identified by the above conditions are accounted for prior to randomized group assignments.
OBJECTIVES
The intention for this experience is to create a safe enough environment for learning and for personal and professional development to take place. Within appropriate limits, the process group experience will be treated as confidential. All attendees will be able to engage in the small group process in order to learn about group dynamics as well as the ways in which they relate to themselves and others.
As a result of this program, PGI Participants will be able to:
- Discuss observed anchors for the stages of group development.
- Describe group dynamics from the perspective of a group member.
- Identify the ways in which identity factors and intersectionality impact the process group.
- List at least 3 group-as-a-whole process interventions made by group facilitators.
- Examine intra-personal and inter-personal dynamics of engagement/disengagement; connection/disconnection; approaching/retreating in the process group space.
- Compare process groups in professional development settings to process groups held in university/college counseling centers.
PGI 2022
Advisory Board
Rohit Agrawal, M.A.
Tristan Barsky, Psy.D.
Morgan Christie, Ph.D.
Fatuma Dzilala, M.A.
RaiNesha Miller, Ph.D.
Jennifer Oh, M.A.
Karen Taylor, LCSW-C
Host Institution
The Johns Hopkins University Counseling Center
2022 Consortium Programs
Facilitation Team
Shemika Brooks, Psy.D., CGP
Analesa Clarke, Ph.D., CGP
Jackie Darby, Psy.D., CGP
Robin Dean, Psy.D., M.S.Ed
Joshua DeSilva, Psy.D., CGP
Erin Gallivan, Ph.D., CGP
Wendy Gonzalez-Canal, Ph.D.
Nathasha Hahn, Ph.D.
Lauren Mirzakhalili, MSS, LCSW-C.
Sponsors
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Racial Consciousness-Focused Consultation Group for White Clinicians
The purpose and process of this consultee-centered case consultation group space is to serve as a contained space for white-identifying licensed mental health clinicians to engage in personal growth and development around racial consciousness, including the ways in which racism and white supremacist culture show up in clinical practice. This is intended to improve the ability to effectively work with diverse patient/client populations. Consultees will develop an increased capacity to attend to the needs of all patients/clients served. The discussion, reflection, and exploration occurring in this group will:
- create a container for white clinician racial identity development and exploration.
- serve as a space for each consultee to explore and practice articulating their white identity and associated white privilege.
- facilitate growth in each consultee towards the ability to attend to and discuss racial issues with patients/clients in clinical work.
- promote exploration of the ways in which intersectionality with various aspects of identity informs patient/client experiences.
- bring intentional focus to manifestations of power, privilege, bias, and oppression in mental health work through white supremacist culture.
* WEEKLY CONSULTATION GROUP *
* TUESDAY EVENINGS *
* OPEN, ONGOING *
* UP TO 7 MEMBERS *
* MINIMUM 6 WEEK COMMITMENT *
DISCLAIMERS
- THIS IS NOT A THERAPY GROUP
- No therapist-client relationships will be established or facilitated through the current consultation group.
- This group is not an appropriate replacement for mental health treatment.
- Though consultees in this group may find the space to be therapeutic at times, this group is not a treatment group.
- THIS IS NOT A SUPERVISION GROUP
- Active licensure for independent practice and ongoing engagement in clinical work are required in order to join the current consultation group.
- The group will discuss personal experiences and perspectives in addition to consulting about specific cases and other clinical issues.
- OVERALL, THIS GROUP WILL NOT BE AN EASY OR A COMFORTABLE EXPERIENCE.
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE PARTICIPATION REQUEST FORM
WHY???
…as in, why would Dr. Brooks do the exhausting labor of offering this space?…
As a Black woman, it is important for me to be available for BIPOC individuals seeking a BIPOC-identifying mental health treatment provider (e.g., through individual therapy or by creating therapeutic spaces exclusively for BIPOC-identified individuals). This has become more apparent and more important over the last year with the increased tension in the social climate and race relations in the USA. And recently the Amrican Psychological Association reported that 4% of all psychologists in the USA are Black, and 86% are White (see the “How Diverse is the Psychology Workforce” article published on APA’s website for more).
With being made aware of these descriptive statistics and thinking about general USA census data, these thoughts crossed my mind: if 38% of the USA population is BIPOC, and 86% of psychologists are White, and assuming that race discrepancies exist across other mental health fields, inevitably there will not be enough BIPOC clinicians to serve all BIPOC people, even if desired. As such, I believe that devoting a portion of my energy towards providing consultation to White-identified clinicians would have a ripple effect in the quality of care they provide to their clients, as well as positively impact their ability to further share their learnings and experiences with other colleagues and supervisees.
My goal in holding this consultation group space is to facilitate the personal growth of White clinicians that will improve their overall treatment outcomes and decrease harm for more BIPOC patients/clients. It is my expectation that through the work that is done in this group with a few, hundreds of patients/clients will experience benefit.
To be clear, I do not believe that it is my racial identity that makes me qualified to engage in and/or to facilitate this work. In addition to my my ongoing dedication to studying, training, and my own professional and personal growth and development around these topics, I have served as one of the Chairs of the Racial and Ethnic Diversity Special Interest Group (RED SIG) of the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA), I was one of the founding chairs of the Anti-Racism Task Force (now Anti-Racism Committee) of the Mid Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Association (MAGPS), and I have presented on identifying and addressing microaggressions in group counseling at national conferences for the last several years.
White clinicians, I invite you to increase consciousness of the systematic bias that resides in each of us, and to challenge yourselves and others to deconstruct white supremacist culture in your work spaces and communities. I welcome you to join this consultation group to engage in personal and professional growth toward better quality of care for all of your patients/clients.
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE PARTICIPATION REQUEST FORM
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General Consultation Requests
***For all other consultation inquiries, use this linked form to contact Dr. Brooks.***
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